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Review--Untamed by A.G. Howard

A post-Ensnared collection of three stories—available in both print and e-versions.

Alyssa
Gardner went down the rabbit hole and took control of her destiny. She
survived the battle for Wonderland and the battle for her heart. In this
collection of three novellas, join Alyssa and her family as they look
back at their memories of Wonderland.

In Six Impossible Things, Alyssa recalls the most precious moments of her life after Ensnared,
and the role magic plays in preserving the happiness of those she
loves. Alyssa’s mother reminisces about her own time in Wonderland and
rescuing the man who would become her husband in The Boy in the Web. And Morpheus delves into Jeb’s memories of the events of Splintered in The Moth in the Mirror, available in print for the first time.

This collection expands upon Ensnared's epilogue, and includes some deleted scenes to provide a “director’s cut” glimpse into the past and futures of our favorite Splintered characters.

Untamed is a collection of A.G. Howard’s novellas in the
Splintered trilogy. Granted, The Moth in the Mirror
was previously published as an e-novella only, but we still have two
brand new stories in this one, The Boy in the Web and Six Impossible
Things.

The Boy in the Web
was basically the story of how Alyssa’s parents met. Alison was going
through similar changes that we saw Alyssa go through. She talked
to bugs, and a strange moth man visited her in her dreams. He was
shaping her up to be the future queen. While this story was part Alison
remembering her time with Morpheus, it also became a trip down memory
lane via the train where you can see memories, with
her husband Thomas.

We
learn who Thomas was before, a young boy named David destined for great
things that were somewhat Wonderland related. And then he becomes a
prisoner in Sister Two’s (or
was it One?) graveyard. It wasn’t until Alison rescued him that
everything changed, including him.

It
was a bit of a slow story, perhaps I’ve spent too much time away from
this particular Wonderland. But while I liked seeing how Alyssa’s
parents met, it really wasn’t all
that memorable of a story.

Since I previously read
The Moth in the Mirror, I skipped a re-read and went straight to
Six Impossible Things. I always struggled to enjoy the romantic aspect of the
Splintered trilogy. Because as we all know, Alyssa never really
made her “choice”. She wanted it all, so she had both boys. She lived
with Jeb as a human in the human world and when he died, she readied
herself to return to Wonderland and take
on her sixteen year old’s self and body again, to be with Morpheus.

I
hated this. I hated that she basically chose them both. I think I
could’ve liked the story better if she chose one boy or the other at the
end of
Entwined. But nope. That wasn’t her way. Alyssa has three
memories that she recalls as an old woman, readying herself to return to
Wonderland. This was basically her time with Jeb. But yet, it wasn’t
really the highlights. There’s a memory of
her returning to her old world, their wedding, and Jeb’s death. What
life was that really?

The
latter half of the story is her returning to Morpheus and this is
basically the now of things. Then we return to memory lane, again, but
this time with her memories of
Morpheus. One was from her childhood time with him in her dreams, and
the latter two were of when she spent her time with him before returning
with Jeb and her parents to her human world.

I
think the Team Morpheus fans will definitely enjoy this story more.
While I never found a team for myself, I might have leaned more towards
Jeb because there were a few
things I didn’t like that Morpheus did to Alyssa. I almost feel like
Alyssa should’ve just chosen Morpheus and forget the whole human life
with Jeb, because that’s basically what kind of happens in some sense.
While that human life did shape her in some ways,
I feel like none of it mattered in the long run because she chose an
eternity with Morpheus. She loved them both, but in the end, really,
Morpheus was her true choice.

And
I would’ve dealt with that all fine and dandy had she never chosen Jeb
as well. And now the latter half of this review has turned into a rant
regarding Alyssa’s choices!
My apologies.

I
did like this story a little more than the first one. I still felt
heartsick over Jeb and wondered what kind of life he and Alyssa had,
because it wasn’t really mentioned
but for her carefree, momentary flashbacks as he died. Though I do
think it would be interesting to see what kind of life she and Morpheus
have in Wonderland. And there’s quite the surprise at the end as well.
If only Alyssa would’ve chosen Morpheus at the
series end, I think I would’ve enjoyed this one much more than I did.